Noctis Liberi
by Shurikenx
Summary: Children of the night make such music, don't they? AU, Itachi/Sasuke, Uchihacest, lemons, limes and disturbing content.


A/N: This story has been a long w.i.p, but now that it's finished I wanted to put it up here for you guys to read. :) I hope you like it, I really enjoyed writing it. I have a sequel planned, but it might not happen, it depends whether you guys would like one or not. I deliberately left this story a little ambiguous, with questions unanswered. A sequel would round these up, but you might like it better just as a oneshot. The inspiration for this one came from one of my favourite films ever, 'The Lost Boys'. It's a great 80s vampire flick, and if you haven't watched it, go and get a copy! This story is based on the themes featured in the film, and especially on its theme song - 'Cry Little Sister.' I've included the lyrics at various points in this story for you read - after you've read it through, go on youtube and listen to a cover of the song by a group called Seasons After. It's a brilliant cover, and in my opinion much better than the original. :)

**Noctis Liberi**

"Morituri te salutamus." - To those about to die, we salute you.

_The last fire will rise,_  
_Behind those eyes._  
_Black house will rock,_  
_Blind boys don't lie ~_

* * *

'Oh my god, Itachi, come check this out,' Sasuke laughed from his place on the sofa in the living room. Itachi gave a sigh and raked a hand through his hair, sweeping strands from his eyes as they tickled at his face. He opted to tie it all back into a ponytail, using the black hair band that he sported on his wrist like a bracelet. As he began making his way off the bed, he caught sight of his reflection in the large ornate mirror above his dresser. He looked like death warmed up; dark circles were starting to appear at the inside corners of his eyes and his lips were cracked and dry.

'Itachi!'

'Alright, I'm coming,' he replied, finishing off tying his hair and making his way to the living room. Sasuke lay sprawled on his stomach across the plush sofa, his legs kicked back behind him as he pointed the remote at the television set opposite. He upped the volume and laughed a little.

'Just watch, look,' he gestured at the screen. Itachi raised an eyebrow; it was a crackly black and white film. Sasuke didn't often watch things like that, if anything, the younger Uchiha tended to prefer watching thrillers, something with a hint of malice to it. It was a film about vampires, Itachi noticed, watching as a white-faced ma, clad in a swirling cloak advanced on a pristine young maiden lying prostrate across a bed. It was decorated with roses, meant to be a deep blood red, but instead appearing to be shades of dull grey. He watched, faintly amused at Sasuke's stifled laughter as the vampire approached his victim, leaning over her and sinking white fangs into an equally white neck. Itachi watched as Sasuke clapped a hand over his mouth, fighting back laughter until tears began to shine in the corners of his eyes.

'It's not that funny,' Itachi remarked, crossing his arms across his chest and resting against the back of the sofa. He leaned in slightly to catch his brother's eyes.

'What? I thought it was just…amusing,' Sasuke began, breaking into a giggle as he flipped over onto his back to see his brother's somewhat accusing stare looking down at him from above. 'Come on, don't tell me you didn't find it funny,' he said, adding a little pout to achieve his desired reaction.

Itachi rolled his eyes. 'You're a strange one, Sasuke,' he smiled, reaching down to fondle his brother's midnight hair. It felt like strands of silk, and as he petted it, fingering pieces and twisting them gently, he noticed that his brother's head was tilting back to lean into the caress.

'Hm. Tell me what was funny about it,' he said, sliding his fingers from Sasuke's hair to touch the lobe of his left ear.

'It's just the way it was all…filmed I guess. You know, so _dramatic_ and _passionate_! What with the…the…'

'Virgin sacrifice?' Itachi added in, smiling as his brother's cheekbones began to tinge slowly with pink. Oh, how delightful.

'Hn, yeah. The roses, the elevated bed, the exposed neck – you know, it's just rather comical,' Sasuke said with a smile. Itachi moved his hand to cup the younger's chin and gripped it firmly, catching the faint glint that darkened the eyes below him. A dangerous sparkle resided deep within those eyes, and it seemed that only Itachi was capable of bringing it to the surface.

'And we all know how_… important_ a virgin sacrifice is, hm?' He smiled wickedly down at his younger brother, observing how the small Adam's apple moved slightly as he swallowed.

'Really?' Sasuke teased, narrowing his eyes and ever so gently wetting his bottom lip. 'I forget.' He waited, somewhat expectant, and was about to press the question to his brother again when he began to speak.

'I'm going to have a sleep,' Itachi said off-handedly, releasing his hold on Sasuke's chin as he stood up fully, flexing the muscles in his back as he did so. 'If you need me, I'll be in the bedroom.' Sasuke opened his mouth to reply, but Itachi had already left; he could his footsteps fading gently down the corridor. He gave a sigh and flopped back down onto the sofa, bouncing slightly on the plush cushions. He felt oddly dismissed, but due to Itachi's odd sleep patterns recently and his generally strange behaviour, he didn't find the feeling to be too worrying.

Itachi used to be different, he thought to himself. There was a time when he was more like an older-brother, and much less like the friendly stranger he seemed to be now. That's not to say that everything was peaches and cream when they were younger – infact, they occasionally got into brawls, Sasuke often being reprimanded by Itachi for pulling on his long hair; something he could in no way tolerate, to which Sasuke would reply with another well-timed tug. He once received a strong punch to his jaw for his behaviour.

Absentmindedly, Sasuke reached a hand to his right cheek. The pain from that memory seemed to reside somewhere deep within the bones, occasionally flaring to the surface as fresh and painful as it had been that day. Despite the fights and the arguments, they had had a fairly good relationship together.

Their childhood seemed like a distant memory – the Itachi that shared his apartment was a grown man now, no longer the scrawny teenager that he had been. More recently though, his _behaviour _had changed. The cool attitude had become prickly like a smouldering ember – still with enough heat to burn your fingertips if you got too close, no matter how cold it seemed. Just the other day, Sasuke had stayed out too late, and was greeted with a slap when he returned to the flat. According to his brother, the streets became dangerous after certain times, and Sasuke shouldn't have been loitering around in the roads like some street rat. Insolence had to be punished, Itachi had said. Without the slap, Sasuke wouldn't have learnt his lesson.

Sasuke sighed and threw and hand over his eyes, shielding them from the bare light bulb dangling above. There was definitely something…off about Itachi lately, Sasuke just couldn't figure out what it was. He forced himself up from the sofa with a sigh, popping his spine leisurely. He felt vaguely thirsty, and having nothing better to do, swung his legs onto the floor and headed for the kitchen.

He shivered, feeling his feet come into contact with the marbled tiles of the kitchen floor. The whole room felt icy cold; he'd have to remind his brother to leave the heating on overnight. He hurried over to the refrigerator, tugging on the handle to open it with a gentle hiss of cold air. A small blue light flickered into life, bathing the fridge's somewhat sparse contents in an eerie glow.

Sasuke felt a pang of disappointment. There was only one cheap can of beer left, the bottle of blue raspberry vodka was empty, and the only other drinks were bottles of iced tea. He sighed and reached for the beer can, mentally compiling a shopping list next time he went to get some food….

He paused; hand suspended above the beer can like a marionette's limb. What was that, glittering in the very furthest corner of the fridge? He reached for it, suddenly ever so curious, and pulled it from the icy fridge. The door clicked shut, leaving him in the darkness of the kitchen with only the moonlight to see by.

It was a bottle – roughly the same size as a wine bottle, but made out of thicker glass. It was a deep red colour, and as Sasuke examined he realised that it wasn't labelled. Turning it over in his hands, feeling the smoothness of it's cold glass against his palms, he heard something gently splashing inside.

Sasuke held the bottle up to the window. Inside, was a tiny amount of liquid, so dark it looked almost black. He shook the bottle gently, watching the liquid froth and bubble. It was thick, almost like syrup.

This was Itachi's, Sasuke realised with a slight feeling of unease. There was no doubt about it, this belonged to his brother and obviously wasn't meant for him to see…

A creeping feeling began to spread in the very depths of Sasuke's stomach, crawling through his body like an insect. He glanced towards the living room, looked back at the bottle in his hands, and headed towards it. Surely one sip wouldn't matter, he assured himself as he sank with a gentle thump onto the sofa, eyes mesmerised by the smallest splash of the liquid inside. He cradled the glass in his hands, gently, almost lovingly.

His fingers moved up from the neck of the bottle to the cork in its rim. It was dusty, scratched, faded with age. It popped free from the bottle with a noise that seemed to echo throughout the apartment. Sasuke looked nervously over to the corridor, where surely Itachi would have heard the sound, open the door to investigate, and see his little brother sitting on the couch with his possession cupped in his hands.

Itachi's bedroom door remained firmly closed, and as much as Sasuke strained his ears to listen for the sound of shuffling bed covers or delicate footsteps, he only heard silence. Itachi was still asleep.

He relaxed a little, surprised to feel a bead of sweat trickle along his hairline and settle by his ear. Anxiety and excitement knotted themselves in his gut – and as he trailed a finger around the bottle's circular opening, he found himself releasing a breathy moan.

As he lifted the bottle to his lips, a small voice resounded in his head: _this is your brother's this is your BROTHER'S and you know what he'll do if he catches you doing this – taking what's his and – _but Sasuke managed to shut it out. He was thirsty after all.

His lips touched the cold glass; his hands tipped the bottle's base up a little, just enough the let the liquid trickle towards his mouth. It hit his throat with what felt like a bolt of electricity. He resisted the urge to cough and swallowed once, twice, three times. The bottle rolled from his hands and landed gently on the carpet, but Sasuke wasn't aware of it. The only thing he was aware of was the sudden rush of intense pleasure as the fluid hit his insides, coating them with its black ink-like colour and staining them.

He let his head flop against the top of the couch, moaning as his skin began to tingle and burn with a delicious heat. This was… this was _amazing_.

Sasuke smiled, raising a hand to his mouth and touching his bottom lip.

He'd forgotten what it was like to drink blood.

* * *

_Immortal fear,_  
_That voice so clear,_  
_Through broken walls,_  
_That scream I hear ~_

As Sasuke was drinking down the last of his brother's blood, Itachi was groaning in his bedroom, throwing a hand over his eyes. They were burning deep in their sockets, making his head pound along furiously to some irregular beat. His mouth was dry, and when he tried to swallow down some spit it felt like he was drinking acid. He winced, resisting grabbing at the duvets and hiding himself underneath them. He hoped he wasn't going to reduce himself to that.

_Tap tap tap._

He glanced up, painfully, to look at his bedroom door. Someone was knocking on it. 'Come in,' he said in a hoarse voice that surprised him.

Sasuke opened the door, his small form silhouetting in the doorway. A strange feeling seemed to accompany the boy into the room, and Itachi winced as he pushed himself up onto his elbows to look at him. 'Shut the door,' he said, gesturing to the light that seeped into the room. It may have only been the light from the living room lamp, but it was enough to make his eyes water and itch deep within their sockets. He was grateful when the door was closed on with a soft click.

Sasuke approached the bed soundlessly, feet almost seeming to float above the lush carpet. He had an odd gleam in his eyes, Itachi noticed with a slight frown, and beads of sweat were glistening on his temples and neck. In short, Sasuke look flushed and out of breath, and his _lips_…

Itachi swallowed a lump in his throat, eyes transfixed on the wet mouth that seemed to shimmer in the darkness of the room, plump and full with blood.

Sasuke stood beside the bed, fingertips restlessly reaching out and toying with the hem of his brother's shirt. The cotton felt like rich silk against his hand, the buttons like smooth pebbles. He popped one through its hole and let the shirt fabric fall slightly open. Itachi watched him.

'Sasuke, I don't know if I'm feeling well enough to…' His voice trailed off to a moan as Sasuke crawled up onto the bed with him, swinging a leg softly over his hips until he was seated in his lap, straddling him. Thin fingers danced along the remaining buttons, reaching up and brushing against Itachi's neck to pull apart the flaps of fabric. Itachi's white skin appeared even more ethereal in the tiny beams of moonlight that fell into the room from between the gaps in the curtains. Lying there on the bed, Sasuke thought his brother looked like a living, breathing corpse. A beautiful corpse with long hair and dark eyes and a red mouth.

He leaned down and kissed him, shuddering, feeling his brother's hand creep up to the back of his neck and hold him in place, pressing him tighter to him in order to slip his tongue between hot lips.

They parted with a slick sound that seemed to echo around them, making Sasuke smile in contentment.

Then, Itachi's eyes narrowed. He quickly pulled his brother down, not by the neck this time, but by the hair. He kissed him deeply, and Sasuke winced at how far his brother was willing to push his tongue down his throat. He could visualise his brother's tongue creeping down into his stomach and felt a mixture of revulsion, dread...and arousal.

Suddenly the kiss ended and he was thrown back violently, crying out as he slipped from the bed and landed awkwardly on the floor. His shoulder smarted with a flaring pain from the impact as he struck the dresser.

'You…you drank blood?' Itachi asked, wiping his hand across the back of his mouth. The taste was so distinct – there was nothing else quite like it. Hot with a sharp metallic tang that was sweet at the same time, like poisonous syrup.

And it was all over the inside of Sasuke's mouth.

'When did you drink it? Where did you _get _it?' His voice was rising now, and he pushed himself up, wincing in pain as his head gave a tremendous thump against the inside of his skull. He cried out, sinking his teeth into his lip in attempt to stifle it. Below him, Sasuke began moving up off the floor.

Itachi let out a feral growl and swung for his brother, hoping to catch him in his hands. His fingertips brushed the fabric of the thin t-shirt he was wearing, but Sasuke flailed and narrowly escaped. He stumbled to his feet and hurried for the door.

'Sasuke!' Itachi shouted, trying to get to his feet without passing out from sheer exhaustion. He placed his feet on the carpet - for a moment he imagined it to be needles.

He was going to punish his brother _severely._

'Sasuke, you little _shit_! Don't you dare run away!'

But Sasuke was already flinging open the bedroom door and hurtling into the corridor. The lights were out, and he almost ran head first into the wall opposite, knocking a picture frame with the corner of his head as he tried to regain his balance. Footsteps were approaching him, along with the disturbingly loud sound of heavy breathing. Itachi was gaining on him, and quickly.

Facing the darkness of the corridor was like staring into the gaping mouth of a huge creature, and forcing himself to run down it made beads of sweat drip down the back of his neck like tears. Behind him, his brother was getting closer and closer – and as he ran, he could almost feel hot breath rustling his hair. His heartbeat was almost painful, and the footsteps louder and louder –

Then he had an idea.

Reaching the end of the corridor, near the entrance to the living room, Sasuke blindly thumped his fist against the wall. Itachi, now only a few yards behind him in the pitch-black, realised what he was trying to do. He cried out angrily, reaching for his brother with a hand that vaguely resembled a claw –

And then Sasuke's fist struck what he had been looking for.

The light switch.

The corridor was immediately filled with bright light and even Sasuke had to shield his eyes at the sudden glare from the bulbs overhead. Itachi collapsed, sinking to the floor as he shuddered against the wall; twitching and crying out like some small child. He clawed at his face with long nails, covering his eyes and trying to sink into any bit of shade he could find.

Sasuke relaxed slightly, trying to ignore how desperately fast his heart was beating. He could feel the pulse in his eardrums and wondered if he might vomit up.

'Sasuke…' His brother moaned, writhing on the floor and managing to gain some sort of composure. He glared at his younger sibling through the slits of his fingers. Sasuke caught the gaze and looked away. How can you hold the stare of someone who's eyes were glistening red?

'Oh Sasuke, why did you run? I swear, if you just…_listened_…to me, then things would be so much better.' His voice was strangely sweet, and Sasuke eyed him curiously, the same way you might look at an animal that would gladly lure you in and then bite at your hand.

'Listening to you doesn't always make things better,' he said carefully, swallowing a nervous lump in his throat. 'Your rules…your boundaries – they're too constricting. I mean, you're always telling me what to do or what not to do. Don't you have any idea how that makes me feel? I feel inferior to you all the time. You _make_ me feel that way.'

Itachi was regarding him with scarlet eyes, his brow furrowing just slightly.

'Listening to you Itachi…' he slid his right foot back across the floor, '… makes me _sick_.'

He moved further back and began heading for the doorway that lead to the apartment's elevator, grabbing his coat on the way.

Itachi let out a noise that sounded like a moan, a growl and a chuckle. 'You're... the worst kind of brother, Sasuke,' he said, letting a smirk fall across his lips as he watched his brother leave. The slight tremor that made his brother pause before shutting the main door let Itachi know that he had been heard, loud and clear.

Only when Sasuke was outside and in the cold air of the street did he wipe away angry, prickling tears.

* * *

Sasuke shivered, glancing up at the moon that hung in the sky like a chesire grin. Thick grey clouds were billowing across the stars, threatening a chance of rain. Sasuke hoped it wouldn't become stormy – he hated thunder. He wrapped his arms around his front, trying to shield his frail body from the bitter chill in the air.

He soon reached a junction, and opted to take the narrow alleyway that pushed its way between apartment blocks and shops, all of which were bordered up and shut for the night. He hurried across the road and slipped in the gap between two bookshops. He liked walking down these alleys – of course, he never usually did so. If they ever had to take back roads to escape the watchful eyes of those around them, Itachi would always lead the way, tugging Sasuke along by the sleeve to keep up.

Itachi always reminded him how dangerous the streets could be, especially during the night when they were most active. He never failed to punctuate this with a threat if he ever found out he had been walking these streets by himself.

Sasuke angrily kicked an old tin can that lay in his path. It rattled nosily and ricocheted into a large pile of trash cans, overflowing with junk and garbage. The smell was awful, and Sasuke had to cover his mouth and nose with his hand as he walked past.

A movement caught his eye and he spun around, remembering the stories his brother used to tell him of deranged mad-men that stalked people at night – and saw a large brown rat tucking into some kind of food by its feet. He paused, watching it. Its yellow teeth were so long that they hooked over its chin. Something black and sticky was smeared over its fat body. Its tail was like a coil of damp rope.

It turned its beady eyes to the boy standing beside it, regarded him with interest for a moment, and then tucked back into its midnight snack. Curiosity made Sasuke lean forward slightly to get a better look at what it was eating, and he recoiled in horror upon realising that what he had thought was a pile of trash was actually the festering body of a cat.

The rat seemed to be smiling as he hurried on down the alley.

He followed the path, turning corner after corner until finally he came out opposite a large high street. Just there, down the road, was a large building with a flickering neon sign. Itachi would kill him for even _thinking _of going into such a place, but at that moment, Sasuke couldn't care less about his brother. He headed for that flashing sign, and the large double doors that lay beneath it. He pushed them open and sank into the warmth and noise of the club's busiest hour.

* * *

Just as Sasuke began to head for the bar, pushing through crowds of people as he went, his brother was stumbling into his bedroom and closing the door behind him. He sunk against it, breathing rapidly as his muscles protested at the movement. The sudden onslaught of light in the corridor had sent a shock through his system, bringing pain and agony with it. Now in the comforting darkness of his bedroom, he gratefully sank to the floor, back pressing against the door frame.

_That stupid kid_, Itachi thought to himself bitterly, pushing a weak hand through his hair. It snagged on his fingers and he frowned. _Doesn't he ever think?_

And yet, as angry and disappointed in his brother as he was, Itachi couldn't remain angry at him for very long. It could be argued that if the normally stoic, calm and controlled Itachi had one weakness, then it was his younger brother.

'Oh Sasuke,' he muttered, letting his head fall back and rest gently on the cold door frame. He glanced over to the bed, wanting more than anything to crawl over to it and collapse into its soft covers and plush pillows, but he couldn't think of sleeping just yet. Not when his foolish little brother was out in the streets doing only god knows what. He sighed at the thought.

He _loved _Sasuke. He loved him just as much as he hated him at times, and surely that would one day be his downfall. They'd be the death of each other.

He glanced at the bed again. He'd rest for a few minutes, just enough to get his strength up, and then he'd go and find his brother. Sasuke obviously didn't understand why he had to force such rules onto him all the time. Itachi didn't do it because he was cruel, but because he cared. Maybe he cared too much - but in any case, he'd have to find his brother and explain. He'd left Sasuke in the dark for too long.

* * *

Sasuke sat down on the high bar stool and swung his legs a little. The bar was busy with people leaning against the counter, swigging huge glasses of wine and beer and laughing between themselves. After a few minutes, he managed to catch the eye of the bartender, who approached him whilst cleaning a tall glass. It caught the light and sparkled.

'What can I get you?' He asked the young before him, stacking the glass in his hand below the counter. The boy only looked to be about fifteen or so. His shocking black hair spiked out at the nape of his neck and fell heavily over one eye. He was a pretty kid, in an unusual way.

'I'll have a strawberry martini,' Sasuke said, watching as the man nodded and began getting the various ingredients for the cocktail.

'Coming right up.'

Sasuke swung around on the bar stool to have a look around. It was a wonder nobody here had asked him for ID or anything – although as he looked around, he spotted several people who were possibly younger than himself. In the far corner of the club were rows of cosy looking booths with tables and chairs. In one of them, Sasuke could see two young guys kissing. He looked away, oddly embarrassed.

'Here you go sweetheart,' the bartender said, handing Sasuke a large pink cocktail garnished with strawberries and sticky maraschino cherries. He fished them out with his fingers and popped them into his mouth, making the bartender smile. He started for his coat pocket, but the man interrupted him.

'It's on the house,' he said, smiling as the boy nodded and thanked him before slipping down off the stool to find a seat. Sasuke pushed his way through the dance floor towards the booths, feeling the heavy thumping beat of the techno music reverberate through his body. He found an empty seat and sank down into it, taking a sip of his martini and smiling at how deliciously sweet it was. Strawberry martinis had always been his favourite alcoholic drink, much to his brother's amusement. Itachi's preferred drink was the pale green vodka stinger, flavoured with cool mint and bitter alcohol. Itachi always laughed at Sasuke's affinity for sugary sweet things, and so he had begun to drink Bloody Marys around his brother. The tomato drink was also one of his favourites, but seeing as he didn't need to impress his brother this time; the strawberry martini was just fine.

The swarming mass of people on the dance floor all burst into loud applause and cheers as the techno song came to an end. Just as soon as it had stopped, a new track blared out across the room and seemed to make the very floor vibrate and shimmer under the volume. The lights overhead flickered in time with the beat, making people jump up and down to the song. It was something by Pendulum, Sasuke thought to himself, a remix or something. .

Leaving his drink on the table, he got up from his seat and moved to the middle of the crowds. There, in the very middle of the mass of people, the air was searing hot. Sweat began to prickle at his temples within seconds, and before he could realise exactly what he was doing, he began to dance along with everybody else. The song seemed to scream across the room; it was so loud. His lungs seemed to jostle with every thump of the beat, and yet all around him people were laughing and cheering and punching their fists in the air. He danced, forgetting his brother, and how he would have punished him for doing something this. To Itachi, the people sweating away on the dance floor were dirty. To Sasuke, the people were _real_.

A few minutes later, the song grounded to a halt, leaving the speakers around the room humming with electricity. As the crowd began demanding another, Sasuke slipped between their hot bodies to return to his seat. He spotted his chair and sank down gratefully into it, wiping the back of his hands across his damp forehead.

'You might want a sip of this,' said a sudden voice from across the table. Sasuke jumped, surprised, as a young man offered him his strawberry martini.

'Who are you?' Sasuke asked, narrowing his eyes and shrinking back into his seat. The man had piercing brown eyes and a mass of dark hair, the sort of look that was quite attractive, but considering the circumstances, Sasuke wanted him out of his booth and away from him.

The man seemed to notice the hostility in the young boy's eyes, and he gestured to the drink once more. 'Honestly, you're going to pass out if you don't have some. You look dehydrated, you know.'

Sasuke's eyes flickered from the man's gaze to the drink and back again. He reached out and grabbed the drink, ignoring how their fingertips were forced to touch, and downed a sip. He did feel a little better.

'Thanks,' he muttered, placing it back on the table close to him. The man smiled and put his elbows on the table, lacing his fingers together and putting his chin on top of them.

'Are you here by yourself?' he asked, regarding the boy with interest. Sasuke flinched at the question, suddenly remembering his brother whom he had thankfully forgotten during the dance. '...Yes,' he answered a little bitterly. Itachi would _kill _him if he saw him now, talking to a stranger, especially whilst sitting in a club – He froze. The man sitting opposite had just touched his leg with his foot. Sasuke glared at the man, warning him to stop, but then he felt the foot slide up his shin and he leapt to his feet. He grabbed his glass and made to move out of the booth.

'Hey, hey I'm sorry okay?' The man said, reaching across the table and catching Sasuke by his sleeve. Sasuke attempted to move away, reminded of how his brother had reached for him back at home, but he couldn't move. 'Look, I just wanted to talk you. Please don't go.'

The look in his brown eyes made Sasuke's decision to run falter slightly. In the slightly better light at the end of the table, the man looked only a few years older than himself.

'There's a place out back where we can go and talk,' the man said, voice pleading now.

Sasuke wasn't a fool, he knew exactly what the man wanted, and it wasn't to talk.

He looked the man up and down. He looked...similar to his brother. He could imagine Itachi punishing him for even _thinking _of accepting the man's 'offer', but at the same time, he was angry with Itachi. His brother was so strict with endless rules and boundaries and limits, that Sasuke was sick of it all. So what if he stayed out late? So what if he drank sugary alcohol cocktails? So what if he wanted to go out to nightclubs, filled with sweating, dancing, disgustingly beautiful people?

One rule of his brother's stood out loud and clear in his mind: Itachi did not share - especially not his brother.

Sasuke smiled, taking the man by surprise.

'Show me the way then,' he said.

The man nodded, holding Sasuke's hand as he stood up from the seat and led him across the dance floor. For a moment they were caught in strobe lighting, and Sasuke felt like he was walking through water. Forcing their way through the flickering crowds, Sasuke was gently pushed in front. At the back of the room was a small door, right by the corner of the bar. Sasuke looked at it, watching as the man behind him reached around him to open it.

'After you,' he said, placing a hand on the small of Sasuke's thin back and giving him a gentle nudge to move forward. Sasuke stepped into the dark room, trying to force the image of his brother away from his mind. He could do this, if he wanted to. Itachi didn't have to control every single movement he made.

_This masquerade,_  
_Strangers will come,_  
_When will they learn,_  
_This loneliness?_  
_Temptation heat,_  
_Beats like a drum,_  
_Deep in your veins,_  
_I will not lie to my little sister ~_

Sasuke flinched as the door swung shut with a gentle click of the latch. The room was small; the only pieces of furniture were a plush looking sofa, a small coffee table and an armchair in the far corner. A candle was flickering on the small tabletop, sending rippling shadows across the black walls. He vaguely noticed that the floor was slightly soft under his sneakers, a deep rich carpet made out of some fluffy fibre.

A hand pressed against the bottom of his spine and pushed him forward towards the sofa, sitting there in the very middle of the room like some ominous creature that would eat him up as soon as he sat on it –

The man pushed him down onto the seats with a gentle thump, watching as the young boy winced at the movement. He smiled, this kid was adorable.

'Now then,' he said, walking around Sasuke until he was behind him, leaning over the sofa. He placed his hands on the boy's shoulders and squeezed gently, feeling the slight tremor in the muscles. 'Why don't you take off your clothes and get yourself comfortable.'

Sasuke swallowed a tight lump that had begun to grow in his throat, realising that the man wasn't _asking_ him. It was a demand, with little room to argue. Hesitantly, he reached his hands towards the belt around his middle, lightly touching the metal clasp, cold in his fingers.

'That's it,' said the voice from behind him, eyes watching his every move.

Sasuke didn't know what to do. A part of him wanted this, no matter how filthy and dirty he was beginning to feel, no matter how cheap he was becoming. Deep down, Sasuke wanted to defy his brother and break all those suffocating rules, and yet...

The sound of shuffling feet inched around the sofa, until the man was standing directly in front of him. Cold eyes descended on him, watching his fingers still on the belt.

'Are you scared?' He asked, reaching forward and placing a hand on Sasuke's chin, tilting his head up slightly to look into those dark, dark eyes. Those eyes flickered hesitantly, looked briefly towards a corner of the room, settled on the man's face. He didn't nod or shake his head in reply – in all honesty, he didn't need to. Those eyes were as expressive as a thousand words.

The man smiled, not so much a grin this time, but more of an understanding simper. He fingered a piece of Sasuke's black hair, twisting it between thumb and forefinger.

'You can pretend I'm someone else,' he whispered, leaning over the boy and breathing softly on his neck. 'It'll be like… living a fantasy. You'd like that, right?' He kissed the soft exposed skin of the boy's neck, feeling the skin tremble under his lips. The boy was like a fragile bird, he realised with a smile, a fragile bird with brittle bones.

Sasuke released a shuddering breath, uncomfortable with the man's sudden closeness – _but you knew this would happen_, a small voice spoke up in the back of his mind, sounding uncanningly like his brother, _you knew the moment that you allowed him to take hold of your hand_. A numbness was starting to creep through Sasuke's blood, forcing himself to sink further into the plush leather of the couch. He didn't want to care what his brother thought about him anymore.

He didn't feel too surprised to feel the man sink to his knees between his own spread legs, hands coming up to nudge his nervous fingers aside as his belt was tugged free from the loops.

'Tell you what,' the man said, his voice sultry and soft as silk as he unclasped the belt and began pulling down Sasuke's zipper. 'I'll make this easy for you. I'll suck you off, and if you still don't want to do this, then I'll let you walk out of here, no charge.' He looked up at Sasuke, caught his eyes and flashed a grin of sharp, white teeth. 'Deal?'

Sasuke fought down a horrifying urge to get up and leave. If he was going to act on his own and be independent, then he could do this easily. 'Deal,' he said, swallowing down a moan as the stranger between his legs reached a warm hand into his boxers. He winced, letting his head fall back into the back of the sofa, feeling fingernails scratching so – _delightfully_ – against his skin. To his surprise, a breathy moan escaped his lips.

'Hn,' the man chuckled, feeling the boy's flesh harden beneath his fingers. 'I told you you'd like this.'

Sasuke raised a hand to his mouth and bit his knuckles. Pleasure raced through his veins, so similar to that wonderful rush he had experienced earlier from the neck of a bottle – but it was nothing compared to the feeling of the man's hot, wet mouth descending on his flesh. He let out a loud gasp, his free hand reaching for the man's tousled brown hair, gripping it in a tight fist and tugging.

A faint moan escaped the man's occupied mouth, reverberating around the flesh in his mouth and making the writhing boy above him shiver. He sucked hard, letting the boy feel the smooth press of his teeth in a mock threat. He could never hurt this boy, he found himself thinking, allowing the small hands to move and adjust his head just so. How could you hurt such a fragile, needy creature?

He could feel the boy's climax approaching – and they hadn't even been at it for longer than a few minutes. The boy obviously didn't get much release, he thought to himself. He began to suck harder, hallowing his cheeks and deepthroating the boy, feeling his nose lightly touch the slick abdomen as he went down.

Sasuke moaned again, allowing himself to succumb to the pleasure that spiked through his skin and made him flush a deep pink. This… this felt _good_. Better than he thought it would. He could feel his blood trickling down his body, rippling through his veins and shivering delightfully.

'I'm…I'm going to…' he stuttered, clenching his teeth as his body tightened up, unable to speak. The stranger smiled knowingly, and Sasuke felt the smile against his flesh.

He lifted his head from the flesh in his mouth, much to the disappointment of Sasuke who could only let out a pitiful whine, and smirked at him. 'Come in my mouth,' he said, before swiftly taking the boy back between his teeth and sucking hard.

Sasuke came almost instantly, throwing his head back and curling his toes tightly within his sneakers, fingers clutching at the man's sweat-slicked hair and the leather of the sofa, body shuddering as he released into the hot mouth and came with a cry of 'brother'.

The man between his legs swallowed, licked his lips and swallowed again. He carefully removed his mouth from the boy's flesh, knowing how sensitive he would be, and sat back on his heels. Curiously, he looked at the boy before him sitting slumped on the sofa with mouth slightly open, sucking in breath.

'What did you say?'

Just as Sasuke was about to answer, the door to the small room opened with a crash. The top hinges splintered, and Sasuke watched as they fell to the carpeted floor with a flash of silver. A silhouette stood leaning against the broken doorway, arms folded, clad in a thick coat of some kind of leather material.

'You little fool, Sasuke,' it said, the voice soft and husky, but with a sickening lilt to it that hinted at the smile underneath the shadows. Sasuke shivered, his skin crawling with dread as he hurried to tug up his pants and underwear. The man kneeling before him turned narrow eyes towards the intruder.

'Who do you think you are, barging in like that!' He said, anger seeping into the room as he got to his feet. 'Who gave you permission to be back here?' He stood in front of Sasuke, sitting fearfully on the sofa, the fragile bird with skin damp with sweat.

Sasuke realised with a pang of horror that the man was meaning to protect him.

'Wait,' he said hesitantly, stepping to his own feet as he threaded his buckle back into place. 'Look, just wait a minute – I don't – '

'Sit. Down,' came the abrupt, dismissive tone from the doorway. Sasuke sunk back into place like a puppet whose strings had been cut. The person at the doorway stepped into the room with some sort of ethereal grace, as if his feet were hardly touching the ground. As he stepped into the candlelight, Sasuke could see that his brother was wearing a heavy trench coat, smartly buckled at the waist and collar. A pair of sunglasses hid his condescending eyes from view; his long hair was falling over his shoulders in tendrils.

'You foolish little thing,' he said, tutting slightly as he directed his voice towards his sibling. He was ignoring the other man's presence, as if he were just another piece of furniture in the barren room. 'Do you have no self-respect? You're more of a fool than I give you credit for, you know.'

Sasuke winced, catching a glimpse of fiercely white teeth as his brother spoke. He wanted to crawl into a corner of the room and be swallowed up by the ground. He wondered if it was possible.

'And you,' Itachi said, turning to the man who stood defensively in front of his sibling. 'You have… _no_ idea how angry you've made me.' He smiled as he spoke, throwing the man somewhat off guard.

'Who are you?' He asked, horrified to find his voice trembling in his throat.

'I'm his brother,' Itachi replied smoothly, gesturing a hand towards the cowering child. 'And if he's learned his lesson, I'll be taking him home –'

'No way,' the man said suddenly, interrupting the looming figure. Sasuke, in the background, flinched. 'I'm not letting you take him anywhere.' He cast a glance back to the boy sitting on the sofa and offered him a small smile. He wanted to keep this kid safe – and who was to say if this man even _knew_him? They weren't acting like brothers. The young kid seemed _scared_ of him.

As he turned back to face the looming stranger, his throat was torn open.

A hot wet feeling began to spread from the base of his neck, making him cry out in shock. He touched his neck, staggering forwards, and pulled back his hand to look at it. His fingers were covered with blood. He let out a shriek of horror, eyes fearfully spinning from side to side in their sockets in order to seek out the assailant. A cold hand grabbed a fistful of his hair, forced him to his knees, and held him still.

'Now now, let's not over-react about such a little scratch,' Itachi said, holding the injured man still with one hand, and pocketing his sunglasses with the other. He did everything with ease; as if holding a man on his knees was nothing out of the ordinary. The fact that blood was falling in thick, wet splashes to the floor didn't seem to disturb him.

Itachi used the grip on the hair in his hand to force the man to face his brother on the sofa. He smirked, lifting the man's head up, exposing the wound that stretched almost from ear to ear on the trembling neck like a gaping smile. His nails were getting nice and sharp, Itachi thought to himself, examining the nails on the hand that had made the precise slice. He didn't need a knife or a blade to rip someone's flesh apart, he noticed with a sick sense of pride.

The man began to sob underneath his fist, terrified eyes whirling around the room as if looking for an escape. His sight landed on the boy in front of him, only a yard or so away. 'Please,' he said, causing a ripple of blood to seep from the wound as he spoke. Sasuke recoiled, tucking his knees up onto the sofa and letting out a moan of horror. 'Please…please help…' His words sounded bubbly like water, and Sasuke found himself crying as he watched the desperate pleas escape the red mouth like a stuck record.

'Oh ssh,' Itachi said, patting the man's head as he leaned in and whispered into his ear, wet with blood-splashed hair. 'You're scaring my brother.' He stared at the boy as he spoke, scarlet eyes etching themselves into his retinas.

Sasuke knew that even if he wanted to close his eyes, he would see his brother burned onto his eyelids.

The man was only just beginning to die. The cut wasn't deep enough to cause a quick death; Itachi's nails weren't long enough for that just yet, but they were long enough to rip the skin and the artery that lay in amidst a web of veins. Sasuke could smell that lingering scent of blood everywhere – it seemed to float in the room like a hazy cloud. His head was spinning slightly.

Itachi jerked on the hair in his hand, watching his brother's reaction as the man's blood spluttered from the open wound at the pressure. It flecked out onto the base of the sofa with a sound like rain fall.

'You're going to stay right there,' he said nonchalantly to Sasuke, before ducking his head down and sinking his mouth into the fleshy wound. Sasuke let out a breathy moan, but it was lost in the cries and sobs of the injured man. He watched in a mixture of fascination and disgust as his brother began to devour the man from the inside out. He caught sight of Itachi's lengthened teeth, growing at an alarming rate as the blood began to coat his lips and chin, forcing him to bite deeper and _harder_ until the man's neck resembled a pulpy red pudding.

Sasuke felt his own jaws beginning to ache, imagining the taste of such fresh blood running down his own throat, coating his insides with warmth and heat and…

'You're still not used to it,' Itachi remarked, lifting his head from the limp body to speak. Sasuke eyes were drawn to the redness surrounding his brother's wet lips. A piece of non-descript flesh was pierced on his upper right canine, and he watched with a pained whimper as Itachi licked it away from sight.

'You still don't understand your own blood lust, do you.' It wasn't a question, and Sasuke was embarrassed to be spoken to like a child.

'When you're older, you'll learn how to control it better. You'll also stop acting like such a reckless fool, although judging from tonight I can't say I'm so sure of that anymore.' His eyes narrowed dangerously, and he returned back to the twitching body to lap at the neck wound, now growing as the skin ruptured and split.

The man was still alive. He couldn't speak now – maybe the creature had eaten his vocal chords – and could only produce a sort of guttural burbling noise that sounded like a spring in a marsh. As he died, he could feel sharp teeth eating away at his bloody flesh, and the image of the boy he could have loved sitting above him.

A good while later, maybe twenty or so minutes, Itachi had successfully swallowed eight pints of blood from the club-crawler. He felt so much better; his eyes were no longer burning from the candlelight, and his skin was beginning to warm up with a slight pins and needles sensation. He let the dead body fall from his hand to the floor, collapsing like a doll. He nudged it aside with the toe of his boot and approached his sibling.

Sasuke, after having to endure such an act of violence, was shuddering in his seat. His hands were clasped firmly around his bent legs, pressing them to his chest. Tears stained his cheeks and made the whites of his black eyes a faint pink.

He also, Itachi noticed with a small smile, was struggling to hide an erection. The scent and sight of all the blood must have gone to his head.

'Hey,' Itachi said, placing a sticky hand in Sasuke's hair and cradling his head in his palm. 'I want you to understand something, okay? So listen to me.'

Sasuke nodded, head fuzzy and cloudy and numb. He inclined his head into the comforting palm, letting out the smallest of whimpers at the contact.

'I love you, Sasuke. I love you very very much – and you hurt me by trying to sleep with this man. Do you not know what could happen? It would only take the bullet of a gun or a swift stab of a knife for this man to injure you…' his voice softened, and his scarlet eyes began to fade back to a normal shade of ash grey. He leaned forward until his lips were just brushing against the soft, chapped pair belonging to his brother. 'My beautiful baby brother…'

Sasuke smiled through his tears, suddenly feeling very weak and tired. The sun must be only a few hours from rising.

'You now know why I did this?' He asked softly, voice only just more than a whisper. 'Have you learnt your lesson?'

Sasuke nodded, and was greeted with a gentle kiss in reply. Itachi's lips tasted of blood, and when he pulled away after the briefest of moments, Sasuke found himself moaning, his eyes half-lidded in such a sultry way.

Itachi raised an eyebrow before understanding. It wouldn't hurt the boy to have a treat after his lesson. He beckoned with a long finger, encouraging Sasuke's weak body up from the sofa to join him on his knees by the corpse. There was still a fair bit of blood in the body, settling near the carpet and oozing slowly from the neck and mouth. Itachi no longer felt hungry after such a glorious feast, but he knew his brother was starving. Young bloods were never satisfied.

'Come here,' he said, taking Sasuke's chin in one hand as he sunk down beside him, unable to take his eyes off the blood that was seeping from the body and growing out in a black stain like cancer. 'Open.' He tugged on the boy's chin and smiled as he opened his delicate little mouth. With his free hand, Itachi turned to the dead man and scooped up a generous handful of clotting blood from the exposed neck. The majority slipped from between his fingers in heavy lumps, leaving them slick with dark liquid. He turned back to his brother, the little boy that he loved so much it made his heart ache painfully in his chest, and slipped his fingers into his open mouth.

Sasuke latched onto the bloody fingers quickly, like a little bird receiving food from its mother, and sucked feverishly. Itachi felt him nibble at the skin of his hand and reprimanded him with a 'don't bite,' before letting him take a hold of his fingers again. He fed his brother the man's blood like this for some time; just until Sasuke's body had stopped it's trembling. He pulled his clean fingers from the hot mouth with a satisfying pop, and leaned in to kiss that adorable mouth.

'Let me take you home,' he said, releasing Sasuke's lips to speak.

Sasuke nodded in reply. 'Okay,' he said, letting Itachi pull him to his feet. Just before they left the room, Itachi reached into his trench coat pocket and picked out a glistening object. He flicked it over to the corpse with his long fingers.

'Thanks,' he said nonchalantly, pushing his brother through the doorway.

Sasuke looked over his shoulder just before his brother shut the door on him, and caught sight of a silver coin rolling towards the body, catching the shimmering light of the candle as it went out in a hiss of smoke.

* * *

The walk back to the apartment was deathly quiet. Itachi couldn't bring himself to look at his sibling, and instead focused on getting them back home whilst staying mainly to the shadows and the alleyways. Sasuke had struck a raw nerve within him tonight. Itachi knew he had a tendency to be foolish and not consider the consequences of his actions, but sleeping with a stranger? In the back room of some seedy club?

'Itachi…' The boy began to speak, voice nothing more than a hesitant whisper in the stillness of the night. 'Itachi… I didn't mean…'

'Be quiet,' Itachi said sharply, grabbing the boy's hand and tugging him quicker along the alleyway. 'We'll talk about this when we get home.'

Sasuke was subdued into silence, lowering his head in a meek form of submission that Itachi paid no heed. The boy's hand was damp in his own, and he could feel the rough prickle of dried blood flake off in his palm.

Rounding the corner of the alley, the brothers stepped out into the main street. Lamplights flickered and buzzed like flies, occasionally bathing the road in an orange light as they began to shut down. Morning was coming.

Itachi tugged his brother forward and pushed him towards the apartment door. Sasuke turned to look at him, and quickly caught the silver key that had been thrown at his face.

'Get going,' Itachi said, gesturing with his head to the door. Sasuke let out a shaky sigh and pushed the key into the door, bracing himself for whatever punishment his brother would unleash upon him when they reached their room. He felt like he was going to be sick – and for a moment he wondered if he would throw up a dark, sticky concoction of blood and vomit.

The door opened, and the long walk down the corridor began.

_My Shangri-La,_  
_I can t forget,_  
_Why you were mine,_  
_I need you now ~_

_Cry little sister,_  
_"Thou shall not fall"_  
_Come, come to your brother,_  
_"Thou shall not fly"_  
_Unchain me sister,_  
_"Thou shall not steal"_  
_Love is with your brother,_  
_"Thou shall not kill" ~_

Sasuke let his brother lead him to his bedroom. Itachi's room was truly decadent – the walls were covered in wallpaper that matched the borders in Sasuke's one – a mixture of gothic print in red with a black background. The bed was a four-poster; with each of the four posts reaching up to almost touch the ceiling. Thin gossamer curtains were tied back against each one.

Sasuke sighed and sat down on the very edge of the bed. In the corner of the room, he watched Itachi shut the bedroom door and approach him.

'Look,' he began, nervously picking at one of his nails as he spoke. A bit of blood had dried beneath it. 'I'm sorry, okay? I was angry and upset and just wanted to go out for a drink – I guess I got…I don't even _know_… carried away. I was just so angry at you.'

Itachi watched him, shrugging off his coat and throwing it over the bottom of the bed. It lay there like the skin of some dead, black creature. He walked slowly over to where his brother sat and sank down next to him with a gentle sigh. He relaxed back into the pillows, the plush black fabric soothing his tall, aching body.

He glanced over at his brother, sitting there all nervous and timid. 'Lie down with me,' he said, reaching up a hand to nudge the boy's shoulder.

Sasuke hesitated, examining his brother's eyes for any malingering anger or hatred, but he couldn't see anything other than the cold charcoal grey irises. He crawled up onto the bed and lay down underneath Itachi's outstretched arm, letting his brother hold him against his side.

'I love you so much,' Itachi breathed against the top of Sasuke's hair, voice lost amongst his dark strands that spilled across his forehead like wet ink. He tilted a finger under Sasuke's chin and kissed his delicate lips. 'I love you.'

'I know,' Sasuke whispered back, cuddling closer and wrapping an arm around his brother's thin waist. His fingertips pushed up the fabric of shirt and lightly touched the skin of his back, the bump of his spine.

'I'm sorry for drinking the last of your blood, Itachi,' he said quietly, flushing with embarrassment as he hid his face from view. 'I just…the rules you're always imposing on me, things like curfews and who I can talk to or what I can do…it got to me, and I wanted to upset you. I know now that that was wrong of me…'

Shame coursed through Sasuke's body like hot fire. He felt upset, confused, weak and tired. Itachi held him a little closer.

'It's okay,' he hushed him gently, resting his cheek on the top of the boy's soft head. 'I'm sorry too – but really, Sasuke, all of those rules are only there to protect you. You know we're not like other people; certain things can hurt you and make you more vulnerable then other people your age. I guess you could say it's my way of keeping you safe.'

Sasuke nodded.

'I don't want you to have to kill people like I do, you know. Once you start it's… difficult to stop. It's part of who we are, but I'm trying to prolong it for you as long as possible.'

Sasuke moved from under his brother's arms to prop himself up slightly. He looked down into the charcoal eyes, watching as they glimmered faintly red with possessiveness and some sort of twisted love. He leaned down and kissed him gently. Itachi's mouth was still sweet with blood, making Sasuke moan softly into his lips.

Itachi broke the kiss and smiled. Sasuke's blood lust was still rather apparent; he hadn't drunk much from the club crawler earlier, he remembered.

Slowly, Itachi tugged on his brother's hips and pulled him onto his lap. They both gave a groan at the contact, Sasuke's head falling back slightly as his wet lips fell open a little.

Itachi smiled, tugging at the hem of his brother's shirt and pulling it open. The boy slid it from his shoulder where it pooled in a crumpled pile at his hips. He moaned as thin, pale fingers began sliding over his flesh, following the line of collarbone to the gentle concave at the base of his neck.

'Will you let me…?' Itachi asked, voice nothing more than a whisper in the darkness of the room. Outside, the sun was beginning to stir in the sky; a surreal glow was seeping in from between the drawn curtains, lighting the edge of Sasuke's waist. The young boy nodded, leaning forward and kissing his brother on the lips.

_Cry little sister,_  
_"Thou shall not fall"_  
_Come, come to your brother,_  
_"Thou shall not fly"_  
_Unchain me sister,_  
_"Thou shall not steal"_  
_Love is with your brother,_  
_"Thou shall not kill" ~_

Making love was never an easy, simple process. It was horrifically painful, delightfully slow and seductive, and at times simply maddening in its mixture of pleasure and horror. Sasuke found himself arching up into his brother's body, naked, shimmering with sweat, a thin rivulet of blood trickling down his thighs as his brother removed his sharp teeth from the flesh. It was Itachi's favourite place to bite.

Sasuke let out a moan as the pressure was released, relishing in the searing warmth from his brother's tongue as he lapped at the wound with hot, wet licks.

'Mm,' Itachi let out a moan of approval as he licked his sticky lips. 'You're so delicious. Remind me why I don't do this every night?' He smiled wickedly down at his younger sibling, lying there prostrate before him like a sacrifice.

'Because it would make you sick,' Sasuke replied with a smile. He allowed his body to relax into the duvets and sheets, looking through the gossamer curtains of the four-poster into the room beyond. It was like looking through a field of mist, or a piece of frosted glass. Within this bed lay another world. A world with hot mouths and sharp tongues.

'Oh, but aren't I already sick, Sasuke?' He asked, leaning down to gently nip his teeth along the other unmarred thigh. This time, he sank his mouth into the soft skin a little higher, closer to the hot organ that made his brother so passionate and lustful. Indeed, this time when he bit him, he was granted with a heavy moan edged with a cry of pain. The noise fuelled his own desire, and he sucked lightly.

Sasuke reached down between his legs and raked his fingers along his brother's scalp and down through his long hair. It stuck damply to his back and neck. Sasuke noticed with mild interest that some of his blood was staining his brother's cheeks like a macabre form of blusher.

'Itachiii,' he moaned, gripping the hair in his fist and tugging. His brother's mouth separated from his thigh with a loud suction sound. Itachi eyes were clouded over just slightly, and now they were beginning to shimmer red.

'What?' He asked, already knowing the answer.

'Take me.'

Itachi smiled and his sharp teeth caught the little amount of light that filtered into the room. 'But of course,' he said, sitting up and pushing his brother's legs up slightly to bend at the knees. The sudden movement ripped the scabbing wounds, and they began to bleed with dark, syrupy blood.

Itachi was deep within the boy in only a few minutes. Sasuke didn't care for much preparation; they both knew he liked it to hurt just a little. Such an act of incestuous love demanded a little suffering, they had both decided long ago. Still, Itachi couldn't prepare himself for the heat and warmth within his sibling, making him moan and pant along with his submissive brother.

Sasuke moaned as Itachi started to move, rocking deep into him within ever thrust, making him shudder. He could feel the top of his head pressing against the thick headboard of the bed, the force of his brother's movements pushing him into it painfully. He twisted his head to one side, breathing in the steamy air in big gasping mouthfuls.

He winced and closed his eyes tightly as Itachi leant down and sunk his teeth into the exposed side of his neck. He knew his brother wouldn't hurt him deliberately whilst they were sleeping together, but he still couldn't deny the fleeting feeling that started in his stomach and spread outwards, spreading fear with it as it went. The image of the man in the club flashed in front of his eyes – neck ripped, head lolling backwards in a grotesque display of blood and chewed flesh –

Itachi suddenly stopped moving. The gentle thumps of Sasuke's head against the board stilled.

The boy was shuddering, eyes fiercely closed, neck straining against the pain of sharp teeth embedded in his flesh. Slowly, carefully, Itachi removed his mouth from the tiny little wound.

'What's wrong, baby brother?' he asked, genuinely concerned. He cupped his sibling's face and turned it to face him, running his thumb over the trembling eyelids and feeling the prickly eyelashes. Slowly, the cobalt eyes opened.

'Such pretty eyes,' Itachi whispered, kissing each one and leaving just a hint of blood on the lashes. 'Eyes that express so much. Tell me, what's wrong?'

Sasuke swallowed, forcing his heart to calm its pace. He looked up at his brother, who in turn was looking down at him with such love and desire in his eye, that Sasuke wondered how he could fear him. The warm trickle of blood from his neck-bite was seeping down onto his shoulder.

Itachi eyes flickered from his brother's teary gaze to the blood and back again. In that moment, he knew why Sasuke had frozen and tensed up in such a fearful way. He lowered himself just a little and licked at the wound. It was sugary sweet.

'I'll never hurt you, Sasuke,' he said, kissing the two little marks his canine teeth had made. The skin seemed to flutter beneath his lips. 'I promise. I'll never hurt you the way I hurt that man, or the dozens before him, or the dozens that will happen after him. You're mine to care for and look after, and I love you. Don't forget that.'

He gently lifted his brother's legs a little and positioned himself once again between them. 'I love you so much,' he said, as he moved deeply into the warm body before him. Sasuke let out a moan of pleasure at the feeling of being filled so quickly – his brother was so far inside him it almost felt like they were one body. The thought made Sasuke's arousal peak and he rocked back onto his brother's body with a passion that shocked him.

'Mm,' Itachi smiled, moaning in the back of his throat in delight as he continued the punishing pace, 'that's lovely, Sasuke.' He reached down and pressed his sharp nails against the neck wound that was beginning to dry, resulting in a long moan of pleasure-filled-pain. Sasuke was beginning to get close to climaxing, he noticed, changing the angle of his thrusts so that he could press against that tiny bundle of nerves inside the boy just so. He smiled when the writhing boy gasped and clutched at the pillows, struggling to repress any shouts or cries that spilled from between his lips.

Itachi tightened his long fingers around the boy's hips, feeling the bone beneath the skin arching up into his body. His thrusts were fast and hard; he'd never felt so overcome by passion before and it was making him feel slightly delirious. He kissed the edge of Sasuke's ear. 'I'm going...to come inside you,' he whispered hotly, gripping those thin hips and accentuating his words by digging his nails in a little.

Sasuke could barely hear the words over his moans, whimpers and heavy heartbeat, but they struck a chord deep inside him that resonated outwards in spikes of wonderful heat and pleasure. He loved it when his brother spoke like that.

He leaned back, pushing himself up and into his brother's damp body as they reached their climax. Sasuke let out a breathless shout as he came onto the dark duvet, skin feeling as hot as fire. His brother, moaning at the sheer tightness that suddenly enveloped him within that hot little body, came deep inside his sibling with a feral moan. Both of their bodies were shining with sweat, and as Itachi pulled out of the warm beneath him, he collapsed onto the plush bed with a sigh.

He turned over onto his side and looked at his brother, sweating, panting, and bleeding just a little from his mouth where he had bitten his lip. Sasuke smiled at him, catching his gaze. Those soft lips opened a little as his brother reached over and wiped the blood with one long finger, before spreading it like a macabre lip gloss around his mouth. Sasuke moaned and licked up, smiling all the while.

'Oh, the children of the night,' Itachi said, leaning down to kiss that blood-slick mouth, '...what music they make.'

_Cry, Cry, Cry,_  
_"Thou shall not fall"_  
_Little sister,_  
_"Thou shall not fly"_  
_"Thou shall not steal"_  
_Love is with your brother,_  
_"Thou shall not kill" _

_Love is with your brother. _

- END -


End file.
